THERE WERE MIXED RESULTS for the Barbados and St Kitts junior teams in two friendly football matches at the National Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Barbados Under-17 team edged the Kittitians 2-1 in the first game, but the visitors turned the tables in the Under-20 match, whipping their Bajan counterparts 4-1.

The Kittitians were visiting Barbados to secure visas for their upcoming training camp in the United States next week, and the Barbados Football Association took the opportunity to arrange the two practice matches.

Renaldo Seale opened the scoring for the Barbados Under-17s in the 25th minute when he slotted home at the far post.

Even though Barbados conceded a penalty through a late tackle by sweeper Mario Marshall, the young Kittitians missed the opportunity.

Substitute Darryl Caines eventually got the equaliser in the 82nd minute when he caught goalkeeper Dario Weir napping with a quick free-kick from about 25 yards.

But the Bajan boys, with Stephen Griffith and David Castagne playing solidly, grabbed a late winner in the 87th minute.

Awarded free-kick

The St Kitts' goalkeeper Corly Francis was whistled for kicking the ball outside the box and Barbados were awarded a free-kick. Marshall's initial shot was blocked by the St Kitts' wall, but he followed through and lashed in the rebound with an unstoppable left foot shot.

In the second match, the Barbados Under-20s, using a flat defensive back four in a 4-4-2 formation, conceded an early goal in the third minute when goalkeeper Kevin Smith ill-advisedly passed a ball to right back Defor Armour.

Armour found himself with little outlet space on the flank and opted to return the ball to Smith, but his back pass was much too soft and Kevin Benjamin pounced on it and slotted into an open goal.

That 1-0 advantage remained until half-time and on resumption, Barbados, with Lionel Paul doing most of the attacking work, equalised in the 56th minute with a brilliant free-kick by Renaldo Bignall.

However, the Barbados defence found the Benjamin twin brothers, Kevin and Kervin, too hot to handle.

First, Kevin scored his second goal in the 61st minute when he accepted a pass in space on the right side and calmly netted as he slipped into the penalty box.

Tihran Hanley then made it 3-1 in the 88th minute and a minute later, the Kittitian twins combined to seal Barbados' fate. Kevin crossed over from the left side and found his sibling, Kervin, at the back post, and he rose above the Barbados defence to head home.